Ceddanne Rafaela not in starting lineup Friday

The 27-year-old outfielder lasts just 10 days on the Astros’ roster, going 0-for-4 in five plate appearances over three games that he appeared in. It seems likely that
Velázquez will once again attract interest on waivers from teams looking for right-handed thump off of the bench. Raynel Delgado was recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land in a corresponding move on Thursday.

The 26-year-old slugger has been sidelined since just before the All-Star break after suffering a fracture in his right hand. He’s likely to remain there at least through the weekend before rejoining the Mets at some point next week. Before landing on the injured list, Vientos was slashing just .211/.256/.388 with 11 homers and 35 RBI in 254 plate appearances.

Mitchell doubled twice off George Kirby and later hit just his second career homer off a lefty when he took Jhonathan Díaz deep in the eighth. The previous one came against Brooks Raley on Apr. 4, 2003. Mitchell is batting .261/.356/.421 with nine homers in 425 plate appearances. In spite of his success today, he’ll probably find himself on the bench against the Braves’ Chris Sale on Friday.

Gasser was working with a 6-2 lead when the first two guys reached to start the fourth. Gasser battled back to retire the next two batters, but a passed ball allowed one run to score in the process, and Gasser was lifted with Randy Arozarena up. Chad Patrick came in and allowed the one inherited runner to score before finishing the fourth. Gasser remained 3-5, even as the Brewers improved to 9-6 in his starts. He’ll likely face the Mets next week.

Pitching for the first time in a week, Megill extended his streak of hitless appearances to nine. The only batter to reach safely against him during the stretch did so on an intentional walk with the automatic runner on base in the 10th.

Just a tough day all around for Kirby. He had his worst velocity of the season and gave up 12 hard-hit balls. He also took a couple of pitch clock violations. It’s definitely worth wondering if something is up physically after his third rotten outing in his last five starts. He’s due to face the Phillies next week.

It could have been a bigger day, but Chourio just missed on flyouts of 388 and 376 feet. He’s still gone 8-for-17 with two steals and five runs scored in his last four games.

The dynamic third baseman suffered a left hamstring injury while rounding third base in the opening inning on Thursday, just days after returning from an extended stay on the injured list due to a muscle strain in his left hand. While nothing is official yet, it’s possible that he could wind up missing the remainder of the 2026 season.

Peña was pulled from Wednesday’s game in the first inning after being struck in the hand by a 100-mph sinker from Angels’ right-hander Walbert Ureña. Fortunately, he was able to avoid any structural damage and is only dealing with a bit of pain and swelling. He’s considered day-to-day. Nick Allen will start in his place at shortstop on Thursday night and will bat eighth against Halos’ right-hander Grayson Rodriguez.

The 26-year-old superstar got the scoring started in the home half of the first inning, crushing a 3-2 fastball from Gage Jump for a 402-foot (104.3-mph EV) solo shot. He also started a rally with a one-out single in the third and scored on a two-run single off the bat of Isaac Collins. Witt was then walked intentionally in the fourth and raced around to score on an RBI single by Salvador Perez. He’s having another exceptional season at the plate, slashing .286/.362/.463 with 16 homers, 48 RBI, 71 runs scored and 33 stolen bases in 486 plate appearances.